Knuckles (Legacy)
by PlateDrachen
Summary: He may not have meant to stumble upon that damned emerald, but even he couldn't deny that it changed his life for the better. After all, it was that encounter that gave him a purpose for his fists other than destruction. That purpose? To protect the balance of the world while also protecting the lives of his precious people. His life had never been more complicated.
1. Here I come

To those of you who read the original version of this fic, feel free to skip this warning. Basically, this fic is gonna have some gross stuff (no lemons tho). Don't like gross stuff? I recommend you leave. Otherwise, read on, and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Sonic and Naruto belong to their respective owners. Not gonna repeat this, by the way.

* * *

"Here I come. . ."

 ** _(Naruto "Knuckles" Uzumaki-Namikaze had been born on a fateful night._**

 ** _The night of the kyuubi attack was a quiet one. Fair weather, along with a clear sky led to a productive day for most of the village. This, of course, led to a quiet night, or as quiet as a night in a major hidden village can get. Konoha, or the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was a peaceful, if not necessarily stagnant, village. So naturally, the kyuubi attacking caught almost everyone off guard, especially since the hokage was dealing with something . . ._ personal _._**

 ** _Namely, the birth of his children._**

 ** _In another 'verse, Kushina Uzumaki would have the kyuubi extracted while giving birth, would only give birth to one child, and would die along with her husband, Minato Namikaze, sealing the kyuubi away into said child. This time, however, Minato had the foresight to prepare for the worst scenario: that the kyuubi got loose. Even if he was ignorant as to how such a thing might happen, he had set seals accordingly. Kushina was not so prepared, fainting during child birth, but thanks to her Uzumaki blood, sheer luck, and stubborn willpower, she successfully survived not only giving birth to three children (Naruto, the firstborn, and Eriko and Menna, the twins), but having the kyuubi released._**

 ** _Minato, however, sacrificed his life to split the kyuubi into three pieces: Yin, Yang, and Soul. Using the Shiki Fuuin, he sealed one each into each of his children._**

 ** _Yin for Menna_**

 ** _Yang for Eriko_**

 ** _And heart and soul for Naruto._**

 ** _The only thing Kushina remembers after child birth is her three children._**

 ** _As such, no one knows for sure how the kyuubi got lose, though there are rumors of a certain masked Uchiha . . .)_**

* * *

Break? I think so. Five year time skip!

* * *

"C'mon Naruto-nii, Menna-chans already up, and Mom's made breakfast!"

For what felt like the sixth-hundredth time, Naruto wondered how _anyone_ could be louder than his mother. She was called the Red-hot Habanero, for Pete's sake! Than he remembered that Eriko was always a "Mommy's girl", and as such, had received "Personal training" on the subject of being a walking, talking earthquake. Unfortunately for Naruto and Menna, his other, less obnoxious, sister.

"Hai, hai. Did she make more ramen?" He hollered back, keeping the "again" to himself. Pulling the blanket off of himself, and getting up from his futon, he decided to head to the bathroom first. _Man, but having a futon is convenient. Make's collapsing onto the floor after training comfortable._

"Of course she did, ramen's the food of the gods!" His "dearest" little sister hollered back, completely missing that the hope in his voice was not, in fact, hope for more ramen, but for less. _At least it has a lot of calories, I guess. Even if it is a little gross._

"Would you two quit yelling at each other and sit down and eat?!" For the hundredth time, Naruto wondered if his mother would win in a screaming match with those weird flower girls. She probably would. Years of experience yelling at her own children probably did wonders for her volume.

Then again, those flower girls were _loud._ He only needed to accidentally fall on their flowers once to learn that.

Plants are cool and all, but a little bit of damage would give them character. Show their strength, and age.

At this point, he had made it to the upstairs bathroom, hoping against hope to finish up before his mother yelled at him again.

 ** _(Naruto was odd, for his age at least. Red hair, slightly angular face, deep blue eyes with slitted pupils, tall and lanky, with an orange and red tie dye shirt with a green Uzumaki swirl on the back, and black pajama bottoms with red splotches. Combine it with his messy, pointy hair, and he looked like a wannabe Uzumaki punk, straight outta bed, with just a hint of something more feral, like an Inuzuka.)_**

After using the bathroom, he quickly made my way downstairs, and proceeded to seat himself at the table.

"Usually, you are awake far before me, Onii-san, any particular reason why you woke up so late?" Queried Menna, with a hopeful look on her face. Weird.

"I was up late training again, Menna. What else would I have been doing?" He replied

As she looked at her lap and blushed, stammering her little heart out, he remembered. It was the quiet ones you had to look out for.

"No Menna, I wasn't up late masturbating." I told her.

"Naruto!" Shouted both Kushina and Eriko.

"What?" He asked, as his families faces went nuclear. Bunch'a weirdos.

 _ **(Growing up in a female household with a higher regard for training than social norms, Naruto failed to develop some semblance of social decorum. This means he tends to say what he thinks, damn the consequences.)**_

As he looked on, he saw that, even though she was blushing fiercely, Menna still managed looked disappointed, as she did every time he said he wasn't doing something besides training.

The quiet ones. Truly, they were terrifying.

 _ **(Naruto's sisters were not considered twins for nothing. Both had blonde hair [Eriko kept hers in twintails and Menna let her's down] though Menna had red highlights. Their bodies were identical, right down to both having whisker marks on each cheek.)**_

Ignoring Eriko and Kushina attempting to reign themselves in after Naruto's "outburst", he looked down at the table, where he once again met his old foe.

Ramen.

 _Remember Naruto, Ramen has a lot of calories to go along with the fat, and the weird texture, and weird taste, and weird smell, and-_

Suffice to say, his attempted self-encouragements went on for a while.

Ramen was, above even training, the reason Naruto got up early. So that he could could something better. Or go shopping for ingredients before his family awoke.

Years of living with a household that loved ramen almost as much as they loved their own family prompted Naruto to learn how to cook at a young age. He wouldn't win any awards, but at least his food was healthy and fairly tasty.

He really failed to understand how the rest of his family thought living on ramen was healthy.

In the end, he finally gathered the courage to dig in.

Suffice to say, he did his best to make sure the food skipped his taste buds and went straight to his stomach.

And so, breakfast continued. Kushina and Eriko talking about the training regimen with Menna listening quietly, while Naruto sat, thinking of his own regimen. After all, Kushina refused to train him _**(1)**_. It was one of the few points of tension between him and the rest of the family. Though, Naruto couldn't think of his mother _too_ badly. After all, he couldn't properly mold chakra. The docs weren't sure what was wrong, as his chakra coils were perfectly healthy, robust even. Even Tsunade, one of the three legendary sannin and greatest medical ninja in the world, couldn't figure it out. He just wished his mom was up front with him about it. He knew that taijutsu was his only option, thanks to his abysmal kenjutsu and inability to mold chakra. It was why he trained so hard. He would prove his mom wrong. Show her that the Hokage was right to allow him to enroll in the ninja academy.

After breakfast was finished, he went up upstairs to clean up. He was gonna go look for a good training ground.

* * *

Another break? Yup.

* * *

Walking through Konoha was never the most . . . _pleasant_ experience for young Naruto. Having the soul of the kyuubi (even if it was comatose) sealed inside you led to a lot of heated glares and misunderstandings from the civilian populace. Especially since that populace had been attacked by the kyuubi (even though the losses were minimal, at worst) only five years ago. That, however, didn't change the fact that Konoha was a beautiful village. At the time, that didn't mean much to him, obsessed with training as he was, but it meant walking through it was almost pleasant, if you ignored the _looks_. He wanted to make the most of the weather, and train to his fullest.

After all, in three days, it would be October 10th. The anniversary of the kyuubi's defeat.

 ** _(Naruto was never beat as a child. The civilians, while not informed about the intricacies of Fuuinjustu, were well informed of Kushina's nasty temper. And let it be said, the civilians of Konohagakure were god fearing folk. That didn't stop them from marking up prices, emotionally bullying him, giving him weird looks, and otherwise making his life hell. Not that Naruto ever noticed anything but the prices. Even as a child, he was quite conscious of his diet.)_**

As he was walking through town, he heard a commotion coming from a local bar. Normally, he ignored such things (always more training to do), but noise coming from a bar either meant partying or a fight. And he loved good old fashioned bar brawls. Peering in through the window, he wasn't disappointed.

"God dammit, Kimoto! You know I loved her!" Screamed a rather average looking dude. Brown hair, brown eyes, average figure, nothing you would look at twice, normally. This situation, however, wasn't normal. After all, everyone knew what the headband on his head signified.

"And she was the one who came to me, Kuri! You expect me to refuse a request from a beautiful woman?" Replied a Platinum-blonde haired man. Good figure, good face, but nothing extraordinary. _A Yamanaka? Missing a headband though, pretty rare to see a non-ninja clansmen._

Naruto had an overt obsession with training. That included training his mind in all the intricacies of being a ninja. Including the ninja clans.

 _A spat over some bad romance, huh? Surprisingly uncommon in Konoha, though not unheard of._

Kuri, as his name was, threw the first punch. Though, Naruto was the only one unsurprised by the sound Kuri's fist made hitting his "friends'" jaw. The sound of breaking bones, specifically, Kimotos' jaw. For such a sloppy punch, it sure as hell did a lot of damage.

Considering Naruto was specializing in taijutsu, however, he didn't find it all that special.

Suffice to say, he got out of dodge pretty fast. He may be pretty strong, but didn't care to be questioned by the Uchiha Police when they got there. Those guys were mean, and kinda creepy.

 ** _(Speaking of the Uchiha, things were tense between them and the village, but better than they were mainstream. With Kushina as his advisor, The Third hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi (reinstated after Minato's death), had made great strides removing traitors from his midst. Though Danzo still eluded justice (as Hiruzen ignored him in favor of other pursuits, thinking of him as little more than a fanatic), Fugaku, and many of his supporters, had been arrested, with help from Itachi and Mikoto Uchiha. This, however, had the unfortunate side effect of ruining the Uchihas' reputation, and splitting them in half. Half who wanted peace within the village, and half who still wished to commit to a civil war. Sensing the fissure, the Hokage was quick to separate them. He brought the more peaceful side of the Uchihas back into the village proper, leaving the more violently inclined side to fester in the Uchiha district. However, while the Hokage hoped that would be enough, Danzo was pulling strings behind the scenes . . .)_**

And so, he headed onward, wandering through the village, still looking for an ideal place for training.

Only to stop when he heard a rather odd sound. Or in this case, voice.

" _YOOOOUUUUTTTHHH!_ "

Suffice to say, he was scared out of my wits. So what would he do, but throw himself into the nearby bushes, and straight to the side of Maito Gai's training ground. There, he found something . . . _Special._

"Push harder, Lee! You must stoke the flames of your inner _YOUTH!_ " Screamed one Maito Gai, the then greatest Taijutsu master in Konoha.

"Of course, Gai-sensei! I will fan my flames of youth ever brighter!" Responded one Rock Lee, who was doing push-ups at an alarmingly fast pace.

Naruto was envious.

He didn't have such encouragement. No support. No teacher. Not even from his own family.

He was alone, and advancing far too slowly.

He didn't stand a chance against people like Lee.

So, he did what he did whenever he was feeling down.

He headed into the sewers.

* * *

Another break? You betcha.

* * *

Konoha was a big village.

Now, this may seem pretty obvious, being one of the great shinobi villages and all. What most people didn't know, however, was that Konoha may as well be supported by cheese, holes and all **_(2)_**. Underneath its' streets, Konoha had a mass of tunnels, and no one, and I mean no one, knew them better than Naruto. Now you may wonder how the hell Konoha hadn't collapsed under its' own weight, and the answer was simple. Chakra. The tunnels were originally created not only as a sewer system, but as a shelter for civilians during times of war. Naruto first encountered them after falling into the sewer attempting to escape the ANBU in the aftermath of a prank gone wrong. Since then, he had explored and mapped out a fair amount of them, and done a fair amount of research. Suffice to say, he got a head start on his cartography. Heck, he had even set up a base camp.

Which is where he was heading to train.

It wasn't anything overly special. It was a circular room, with a cot (in case of emergencies), a fire pit, an ice box, and a cooking pot. His own little home away from home. It helped that it was spacious enough to train in, too. So there he was, so caught up in attempting to do push-ups as fast as Lee had been, that he missed the signs. The smell of nature, the out of place breeze, even the cracking sound the floor made.

Oh wait, looks like he caught on.

"No fucking way." This phrase summed up his thoughts entirely.

And so, he fell into the abyss.

* * *

This is the rewrite of the first chapter, let me know what you think.

* * *

(1) My new take on the neglect stereotype. Similar to Dead Man walking. A good read, if you don't mind dyslexic writers. Make sure to read V2 though, as V1 was taken over by someone else.

(2) Just like Paris. Seriously, its' underground looks like a honeycomb. Makes me glad I flunked french.


	2. Tougher than leather

Here we go.

* * *

". . . Tougher than leather. . ."

Looking back, Naruto doesn't really know how long he fell for. The fall felt both long and short to him, as weird as that sounds.

It honestly came as bit of a shock when he hit the ground.

Especially since it knocked him unconscious.

Suffice to say, waking up had never been so alarming for Naruto.

Looking around, he saw cave walls on all sides, a ceiling where there should have been a hole, and an ancient looking cobblestone pathway leading Kami knew where. He only really had two options. Wait for help, or push on. Checking himself over, he saw he was uninjured.

He immediately attempted to climb back up the wall.

He only made it about ten feet high, even on his third try.

So with no other way to go but forward, he walked.

And walked.

And walked some more.

And then he spotted a curious glow. A bright, forest green. Following it led him to something amazingly . . . _Rocky._

A giant emerald, at least five feet tall, it was a full head taller than he was.

Though that didn't stop him from immediately attempting to climb on top of it.

The minute his hand touched it, however, his world . . . changed, flashed before his eyes. He saw images of a clan of warriors, an altar at which they worshiped this Master Emerald (a fitting name), and most amazing of all . . . an island in the sky.

And then it spoke.

I've taken a liking to you already, Naruto. Your first time meeting me, and already you attempt to use me as nothing more than a foothold. To not marvel at my presence must require a heart of gold.

Naruto, of course, reacted to the disembodied female voice coming from the emerald the way any sane child would.

By attempting to punch said emerald into pieces.

Suffice to say, he failed spectacularly.

Who knew big green gems were so hard?

Shaking his sore hand, he was surprised when he heard it chuckle in his head.

And he's headstrong to boot. We're gonna get along just fine, Naruto-kun.

I just gave it my best deadpan stare.

And here I thought you would be excited to train with an emerald as old as I am. . .

From what I was later told by the Master Emerald, my face lit up like fireworks in July, whatever that means **_(1)_**.

* * *

Break time!

* * *

Of course, they didn't train in the altar. After forging a permanent mental link with him, the Master Emerald ported Naruto to the mini-forest behind his house.

He noted that the teleportation was extremely accurate.

So, he asked the most reasonable question he could think of.

". . . Can you teach me to do that?"

Maybe one day, Naruto-kun. I admit, I've had lots of practice teleporting my guardians, but you're the first not to throw up on the first try.

"It was a similar experience to a shunshin. So . . . I'm to be your guardian?" He asked.

Do you not want to be my guardian?

At the pleading tone in her voice, he cracked.

"It's just . . . I already have so much on my shoulders, what with my dream and all. I don't think I could properly protect you, especially with my current weakness." I replied.

Tell me, Naruto-kun, what is your dream?

Despite being surprised by the question, Naruto still answered from his heart.

"To become Hokage with nothing but my will, my hands, and my feet."

So you won't use your head?

Twitching at her insinuating he was stupid, he replied "Are you sure a giant, green rock has the right to lecture me on using my head?"

Touché. She replied.

Don't worry about it, Naruto-kun. After all, with the new body I gave you (and the fact nobody but you knows where I am) it shouldn't be too difficult.

"New body?" Looking into a nearby puddle (probably left over from Menna's Suiton training) he saw the most discernible difference immediately.

His hair had turned snow white.

Well, except for his new red highlights. It had also taken a bit of a droop, leaving it looking like it had layers, as well as giving him a bang over his eye _**(2)**_.

Now I know this may be disconcerting, but that's-

"Cool." He chirped "What else is new?"

Well, I gave you muscle reinforcement based on your chakra, but considering your reserves, you'll probably never notice the drain. Besides that, your senses got a boost, you can tunnel like a mole, given the tools, and you can glide. There might be some more stuff besides that, but I'll leave you to figure that out.

"Muscle reinforcement? _**(3)**_ " He parroted.

Muscle reinforcement. Basicallly, your muscles are extremely durable. I'll leave you to figure out how durable.

" . . .Will that help with the muscle strain from training?"

Yup! Along with your huge reserves, you should be able to train for a few days straight, given the opportunity.

"That's the second time you mentioned my reserves. I thought I couldn't mold chakra?"

Yes, but not for the reason you think. See, you already have a few tails worth of chakra, and you're only five, going on six. Given a few more years, you might even be able to give Ki-the kyuubi a run for his money. This comes with its' own share of problems, though. See, while its' not unheard of for a shinobi to have a tail or two worth of chakra, what is unheard of is being born with that much. The shinobi who have gained such large reserves had to endure hellish training to get that much, and even then, they were also training their chakra control the entire time. You never had such training, and as such, you literally CAN'T get the relative drop of chakra out of the ocean you need to form most jutsu. Given time, you could probably get your chakra control to a reasonable point, but it will take a while. At least a year or two of training.

"I think I'd rather focus on my taijutsu."

I'm surprised you're taking this so well.

"Well, I've finally gained the edge I've wanted for so long, plus . . ."

Here, he blushed.

". . . I finally don't feel alone anymore, you know?"

I think I understand, yes. Should I mention that it gets better? She replied, with barest hint of affection.

"It does?" He asked.

Yup! Gather my pieces, and with each one, your connection to me, and through me, nature, shall grow stronger.

"Pieces?" He asked.

Yup! They are known as the chaos emeralds, though I'll wait until you're older to tell you the details.

"Why's that?"

My pieces have found their way into the hands of some . . . _unsavory_ characters. Powerful, but still bad.

"In that case, since we're gonna be together for Kami knows how long, how about we get to know each other, _Emmy_?"

* * *

Guess what? Break.

* * *

October 10th. His birthday. His siblings' birthday. The day of the kyuubi attack.

As a recap, his family was surprisingly okay with the new hairdo. Mom especially.

Guess Naruto looked more like his dad than he thought. Not that it helped in regards to the villagers at all.

Though his new hairdo _does_ help in that regard. Who knew having a whole lot of people smile at you while you walked through the village would feel more nice than creepy? Not Naruto.

As a side note, Emmy keeps to herself when Naruto is around others. Something about finding it more amusing.

He also may have failed to mention Emmy to his family.

Not that he felt particularly guilty. It was healthy to have secrets.

He was just glad to have the house to himself for the first half of today.

It meant he could train to his fullest without worry.

He had long ago convinced his family to leave him behind when they went to the festivals. He had to train, after all.

After completing his new morning ritual (50 pushups, 50 crunches, etc.) and cleaning up, he proceeded downstairs to spy a most pitiful sight. His dearest mother laying her head on the table.

"N-Naruto-kun, m-morning-." Here, she proceeded to dry heave.

 _If mom is here, where are the twins?_

"The twins went out to the festival by themselves." Kushina answered his unspoken question.

"I see." He replied evenly.

"Did you go hang out with Tsunade again? Or did you just have one too many bowls at Ichiraku's?" I asked.

"B-both." She replied with great effort.

"Sorry." He responded, the dryness in his voice matching the winds of Suna.

 _ **(Is that a tumbleweed I see outside Naruto's window?)**_

The pitiful look she sent Naruto said it all.

He sighed.

And so, he went and picked her up bridal style, and began to carry her to her room.

"I'll cook for the party." He reassured her, when she attempted to wriggle out of my grip.

After that, she settled down, looking rather rosy. He imagined being carried by a six year old, even if he was overly tall for his age, was embarrassing.

He wasn't entirely sure why he carried her, instead of just supporting her weight, but thought little of it.

He would do much for his mother, even if she was a major pain in his behind when it came to realizing his dream.

He was just glad the birthday party wasn't till later.

He didn't know how to cook many things, having mostly learned from cheap cookbooks and trial and error, but in his own opinion, he was an okay cook, and he, luckily enough, could bake a cake.

The smiles on his siblings faces when he fed them their favorite meals was always worth the trouble.

It also helped that it allowed him to sneak some more protein into their diets.

* * *

(1) Emmy has been around for a _long_ time.

(2) Like Dante, from Dmc3.

(3) He's basically Luther Strode, though not quite as powerful yet.

* * *

Not much to say about this one.


	3. Knuckles

Disclaimer: Read the one on the previous page.

* * *

". . . Knuckles . . ."

The Uzumaki family's birthday parties were always an overly complicated affair.

With how many guests they got, it was unavoidable. Shinobi from just about every clan of Konohagakure, and even some of the clan-less shinobi showed. It felt more like a ball, if a little less formal.

Yamanaka, Akamichi, Aburame, Hyuuga, Uchiha, Inuzuka, and Sarutobi were just the big names.

Naruto didn't particularly enjoy his birthdays. He had stopped receiving presents, once people realized that, if it wasn't training related, he probably wasn't interested.

And they didn't really care to encourage someone who "couldn't" mold chakra to become a shinobi.

It was a good thing he was an accomplished thief, or he would have a hard time gathering the required funds to obtain his ninja tools.

"Naruto-kun." A voice intoned.

"Heya, Itachi, Satsuki _**(1)**_."

 _Satsuki and Itachi. As close as ever._

"Brawns." Replied Satsuki.

"Clever, real original." He replied dryly.

Before Satsuki could counter, he turned his attention to Itachi.

"So, what do you need, Itachi?" He asked the man.

"Just here to give you Mother's gift." He replied.

 _A gift from Mikoto?_

And so he handed Naruto a box. At first he was confused by it's weight, but then he decided to bite the kunai, as it were. And was he ever so happy he did. Inside the box was an item he had only seen in passing. A red leather jacket. Judging by it's weight, he guessed it was lead lined, too _**(2)**_.

Suffice to say, Itachi was surprised when Naruto put it on.

 _Big, but I'm sure I'll grow into it._

"Please tell Mikoto I said "thank you", alright?" He asked Itachi.

As he was known as a straight shooter (which he was), nearby bystanders were understandably shocked. Naruto thanking someone for a gift? It was unheard of.

The jacket was fairly simple, if nice. A nice, chakra infused leather **_(3)_** , the deep red color of blood, with black zippers and no pockets.

It suited Naruto perfectly.

Suffice to say, just about everyone watching was clueless when it came to it's purpose.

* * *

 _BREAKA!_

* * *

He went to bed early that night; school started early the next day, and he didn't care to be late. Plus, the birthday party had gotten kinda awkward, what with the jacket (which he was still wearing), and all. Didn't help that Kiba got Menna yet _another_ gift. When was the poor pup gonna learn his lesson?

So naturally Naruto was scared out of his wits when he woke up neck deep in water in what looked like ancient ruins. Pipes running along the ceiling, and walls that looked to be made from dirt bricks, it was a foreboding place. It didn't help that it was dark as hell. After gaining my bearings, he realized there was two ways to go from there: backwards or forwards.

He chose forwards.

He was surprised to find that he could move almost effortlessly, as if there wasn't any water at all. He was starting to wonder if I was dreaming. _What do they call it, a lucid dream?_ Then he saw a light.

The room was large. High ceiling, wide floor, and far walls. The feeling was only enhanced by the few stray beams of sunlight filtering through cracks in the ceiling.

What really stood out, however, were the bars at the opposite end. And what lay behind them.

Namely, the kyuubi.

Any fear he would have had for it was instantly destroyed by it's appearance though.

After all, it was shorter than Naruto, and only had one tail.

He managed to hold his laughter for an astonishing 5 seconds.

 **"You dare laugh at the great kyuubi?! Brat, I've eaten bigger men than you in my sleep!"** The kyuubi roared.

He was slightly surprised by the feminine voice, though he kept it to himself.

"Must've given you a real bad case of indigestion, considering your size, furball." He remarked dryly.

 **"You mock me!?"** She screamed.

"Nah, just speaking my mind."

Sensing she was about to flip, he attempted to push the last button.

"Sorry, but you're way too cute to take seriously."

In a way, he succeeded.

The look of shock on her face was what he expected. What he didn't expect was the red peeking through her fur.

"What? Nobody ever call you cute before?" He asked.

 **"I'm capable of leveling mountains, with one movement."** She replied dryly

"And?" Really, he grew up being called cute, and he was already strong enough to smash through walls. His family, and their friends, were relentless.

 **". . . No."** She mumbled.

"No?" He asked. Then his brain caught up.

Put two and two together.

And he realized that her cute little whisper was the answer to the question.

He took a closer look at her.

She was attempting to hold herself high, but he could see the blush, and the way her ears twitched in annoyance.

And how lonely she looked.

And how cute she was.

He could not let this stand.

Initiating extreme snuggle-wuggle time.

 **"W-what the h-hell are you doing!?"** Even her stammering was adorable.

"You were looking kinda down, and I know cuddles help when I'm feeling down in the dumps." He replied.

A pause.

 **"Are you stupid?"** She asked.

"No?"

 **"Whaddya mean 'no?'"** She asked. **"Answering whether or not you're stupid shouldn't require a question mark!"**

Normally, he would take offense to being called stupid, but for her, he was willing to make an exception.

"Ya know . . . you might be on to something there."

The kyuubi's scream would've echoed for miles.

* * *

Ba-baba-ba-break.

* * *

Somehow, Naruto managed to avoid being late to the academy.

And boy, was he regretting it.

Between listening to Iruka drone on and _on_ and having to deal with the group of oddballs that was this year's class, he was liable to lose his mind. And to think, he could be spending this time training. Muscle training, stamina training, focus training, senses training, the list goes on and on and on.

Just like Iruka's speeches.

At the very least, there's a lot of seemingly strong people in this class. Maybe he could ask Satsuki for a spar?

* * *

Another Break already? Yup.

* * *

Lunch was a refreshingly simple affair. Naruto sat and ate by himself, his siblings sat with their new friends, and everyone was happy.

Except for Hinata, who was currently being bullied.

Wait, bullied?

"Thinks she so high and mighty, won't even talk to us 'lowly people', am I right guys?" Asked the lead bully (brown hair, blue eyes, average build. Easy pickings.)

Two shouts of 'Yeah!' followed his question. Flunkies (One fat, one skinny, both with brown hair and eyes. _Did the lead bully rip these guys outta comic book?_ ).

Looking around, Naruto saw everyone else seemed to be oblivious.

Considering the look on poor Hinata's face, he figured it was time he stepped in.

So he politely asked the leader to step away.

"Hey, Dickhead. How about you step away from the pretty lady before some wannabe good guy punches your face in?"

Who said he was gonna be polite to the bullies?

The look on Hinata's face was both shocked and hopeful.

The look of dumb recognition on her bullies faces was significantly more ugly.

"You talkin' to us?" Asked skinny.

"No, I'm talking to the other group of fucks whose leader's new name is Dickhead. Who the hell do you think I'm talking to?"

At this point, everyone else was catching on.

For a bunch of dumb bullies, it didn't take them long to decide they had had enough of his shit.

Skinny, surprisingly enough, was the first to go for Naruto.

He grabbed his fist, pulled him towards himself, and punched in his elbow, breaking it. Skinny let out a shrill scream.

Easy peasy.

Big bones, seeing his friend go down, made to run for it. Probably to get a teacher.

Naruto wasn't having any of it.

He leaped, easily outpacing his run, and delivered a quick kick to the side of his knee.

Snap, crackle, pop.

He quickly turned, sensing more than seeing dickhead finally turning his head around.

He fixed that with a quick fist to his face, breaking his jaw.

His knuckles started bleeding.

The entire thing only took about a minute.

He breathed out, letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding ( _gonna need to fix that_ ) and looked around.

The shocked gazes of his fellow classmates met his eyes.

Reeling from the rush, he finally fell on his ass, and turned to look at Hinata. She seemed . . . shocked.

"Yo, Hinata," seeing he had her attention, he quickly continued, "Mind finding a teacher for me?"

She gave him a blushing, if shaky, smile. She then got up, presumably to find a teacher.

"Man, but this is gonna be hell to explain."

He then promptly passed out.

Only to have the kyuubi congratulate him on a job well done.

He made sure to give her some extreme snuggle time afterwards. She struggled less this time.

* * *

(1) That's right, genderbender.

(2) That's right, lead. Heavy fucking stuff, and he's gonna be stuffing a lot of it into his clothes.

(3) Chakra infused leather, the stuff is tougher than steel, and about 3x more expensive. Suffice to say, it was a rather extravagant gift.

* * *

Not much to say, honestly.


	4. Storm of stones

Here we are.

* * *

". . . Storm of stones . . ."

Six years.

It had been six years since he enrolled in the academy.

Man, but time flies.

". . . Naruto, are you even listening to me? This is important stuff here! You need to master the three basic academy jutsus, or you're gonna fail the test!" Iruka ranted at me.

Naruto just gave him a empty glare for his efforts.

Now, where was he? Oh yes, the time.

It had been a productive six years.

He had changed his wardrobe to revolve around his red leather jacket, with a burnt orange undershirt (self-made), Khaki pants (stolen), and black combat boots (bought and lead-lined).

He grew some more. Up to five feet in height, and still growing.

His chakra is still mostly uncontrollable. The tree still exploded everytime he attempted the tree walk exercise.

He was just glad he had stumbled upon training ground 44.

He had also stomped out most of Konoha's gangs. Got a new nickname for it, too, one which he took to surprisingly well.

Even Kiyo (he had gotten the kyuubi's name very quickly after meeting her) had grown a bit, she was still shorter than him, but he had to admit . . .

She looked even cuter with two tails.

Here, Iruka released a heavy sigh. "Look Naruto, just be ready tomorrow."

"Sure thing, teach." _Not gonna be able to do those jutsu. Gonna need another way to graduate . . ._

* * *

Brk

* * *

His home had changed little over the years. Still simple, and still comfortable.

Except for his family relations, anyway.

After he began his "terror on terror spree", as the Hokage affectionately dubbed it, his mother had taken his siblings on a training trip. He hadn't seen them since.

He had a feeling he was gonna see them soon, however.

Man, but was he glad that he bought his own apartment. No way was he gonna be at the heart of the drama when they got back.

* * *

Broke

* * *

His plan was a stunning success.

He wasn't able to perform a single necessary jutsu. Couldn't even conjure up failures.

So here Naruto sat on some random roof in the village, "bemoaning his lot in life" and whatnot.

Waiting for a traitor.

"Figured I'd find you here."

He had sensed his approach, but part of the plan was to act like a failure of a genin, so he made sure to act extra surprised when Mizuki "snuck up" on him.

"Mizuki-sensei?" He asked.

"The one and only. I came here to offer up a . . . make-up test of sorts."

Outside, Naruto tried his best to look hopeful, but on the inside he was cheering wildy.

His plan had so far been going perfectly.

And to think, all those people had call him stupid. He was just focused, that's all.

"It's simple really. All you have to do is take the Forbidden scroll from the Hokages' office, and meet me at this location in the forest. So, are you in?" He asked, offering his hand.

Which he promptly clasped.

"Of course! I would be stupid to turn down that offer."

His chuckle sure sounded ominous.

* * *

Bawk bawk break, bitch.

* * *

Long story short, it was surprisingly easy.

Who knew those weird pictures Menna had him take of her would be so effective?

He was just glad he didn't leave 'em behind. Who knows what that geezer would have done with them?

 _Oi, Kiyo._

 **What is it, kit?**

 _Care to memorize any of the stuff in this scroll before the ambush?_

 **. . .Why not.**

At this point, he had arrived at the meeting place.

There was no sign of Mizuki.

"Here we go."

He took the scroll from his back, and started reading.

Kurama only managed to memorize the Kage Bunshin before he sensed someone, and promptly rolled it up.

"There you are, Naruto! Why did you take the scroll?" Asked a familiar voice.

 _Oh shit, Iruka-sensei? What the hell was he doing here? Quick, innocent as can be!_

"Iruka-sensei? What do you think I'm doing? I'm completing the make-up test."

The look on his face said it all. "Make-up test?"

"Y'know, the one Mizuki administers?"

So focused was Naruto on acting innocent that he missed an important detail. One which Iruka did not miss.

Instead of stabbing Naruto's chest, a fuma shuriken stabbed Iruka's back.

"Tch, missed the fox." A voice remarked angrily.

"Mizuki-sensei!? What the fuck!?" He knew he was a traitor, but still. Even he knew that Mizuki and Iruka had been friends for years.

 _Is it really that easy to betray someone?_

 _No way._

"Here I am, kyuubi. Now are you gonna hand over the scroll, or do I have to kill you and your precious Iruka-sensei?"

Here, Naruto's face went from panicked, to a cold glare.

"Neither."

Naruto rushed forward, faster than Mizuki was prepared for. It only surprised him for a moment, but a moment was all he needed.

He hit his knee first, kicked it into oblivion.

He went for his right arm next. His fist turned Mizuki's arm into pulp.

He then winded his arm back . . .

And punched Mizuki so hard, it cracked his neck.

He took a moment to process Mizuki's death.

The next moment he began evacuating his lunch all over Mizukis' corpse.

"N-Naruto."

Only to finish when Iruka's voice reached his ears.

 _Oh shit. Iruka-sensei._

Naruto quickly rushed over to his side, just in time for Iruka to faint, and attempted to assess the damage.

Only to realize that he was dangerously lacking in medical expertise.

 _Of all the combat related things I studied, I missed first aid?_

So he did the only thing he could think of.

He picked him up and made a beeline for the hospital.

* * *

Break a leg.

* * *

The trip only took Naruto a few minutes.

He got there and saw a contingent of doctors standing by. They quickly took Iruka away.

The Hokage met him there.

"You alright, Naruto?" The concern laced his voice like lead lined Naruto's jacket.

"I've . . . been better. I . . . killed Mizuki." He whispered.

"And Iruka is in critical condition because I missed the signs and forgot to learn _fucking_ _first aid_."

Here, the Hokage took a puff of his pipe.

"Iruka will be fine. He's a strong shinobi, and he has suffered worse." He told him.

"I'm more worried about you, to be honest with you, Naruto. Your first kill tends to stick with you."

"That's another thing that's worrying me, Jiji. I'm already feeling less guilty. In fact, I feel . . ."

Here, he paused, looking for the right word.

"Victorious." He finished.

Here, the Hokage fished something out of his pockets.

"Then you are one of the lucky, if unnatural, few, Naruto. Congratulations on your field promotion."

And then he handed Naruto his very own headband.

He promptly fainted.

* * *

Break the wall.

* * *

It had been a turbulent week for Naruto.

His family had returned, and, for one reason or another, seemed to be avoiding him as much as he was avoiding them. Just made it easier, he supposed.

Kiyo congratulated him on his first kill.

He just cuddled her for her efforts.

He knew he would find her fur far more soothing than her words. It helped that Kiyo seemed to enjoy the affection, even if she woudn't admit it.

He moved into his own apartment.

He had gotten over his first kill.

It didn't feel good.

But he wasn't exactly torn up over it, either.

He had heard that you learn one thing about yourself when you first kill someone.

Whether or not you can still sleep at night.

He slept like a baby.

To think, this whole debacle started because he had the wits to predict that a traitor may approach him if he waited after failing the test.

 _Of mice and men, my ass._

Which leads him to now. Team assignment. The prospective senseis were sitting at the front, while all the students waited eagerly.

For one reason or another, everyone ignored him (even his sisters, whom he hadn't seen in _forever_ ) when he entered the room, even after spotting the headband on his left arm. Odd.

Here, he tuned back into Iruka's speech.

". . . Team 7 will be Sakura Haruno, Satsuki Uchiha, (here Sakura did an arm pump. Free love, anyone?) and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, led by Kakashi Hatake. Team 8 will consist of Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Kiba Inazuka, run by Kurenai Yuhi. Team 9 will be led Anko Mitarashi (uh oh, he recognized that name), consisting of Menna Uzumaki-Namikaze, Eriko Uzumaki-Namikaze, and Kita Inuzuka. Team 10 will be taught by Sarutobi Asuma, consisting of Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara (did he just say "troublesome"?), and Ino Yamanaka. . ." He rattled off a few more teams (he wasn't fully recovered) and then finished.

The class promptly burst into chaos. Senseis grabbing their students and leaving, Anko bursting through the window, and plenty of students yelling. Suffice to say, Naruto was glad he had brought noise blockers. Though, he got the feeling someone was watching him . . . nah.

A few minutes of this passed, and Iruka left, after promising Naruto a trip to a restaurant of his choice, leaving him with his prospective teammates.

Which, according to form, meant Satsuki brooding, occasionally sending Sakura creeped out looks, Sakura staring dreamily at Satsuki brooding, and Naruto thinking of how best to use this time to further his training.

He promptly decided to do his favorite focus exercise, and proceeded to balance a pencil on his finger. His record was 42 minutes, a record he kinda hoped he woudn't break just yet.

Satsuki noticed this, and attempted to copy him. Weirdo.

Approximately three hours later, he had broken his record. 100 minutes was the new one.

Then the door opened, and in walked the most amazingly gravity defying hair he had ever seen. He looked to his left first, seeing Sasuke and Sakura (who looked like she was about to scream).

"My first impression is-," Here, he spotted Naruto, sitting on the podium (he moved during his focus exercise in order to increase the challenge), balancing a pencil on his finger. ". . . you're all a bunch of weirdos." He finished.

"Meet me up on the roof top." He stated, and then promptly shunshined away.

Satsuki and Sakura got out of their seats and proceeded through the door, though Satsuki sent Naruto a strange look when he didn't follow.

Naruto took the express way, out the window.

 _Who knew wall running without chakra was so much fun?_

* * *

Break the barrier

* * *

Suffice to say, Kakashi looked slightly surprised when Naruto ran up the wall.

He looked even more surprised when he proceeded to ignore him, and sat on the ground and proceeded to read a book about first aid.

Naruto learned from his mistakes.

This is the scene Satsuki and Sakura walked into.

". . . You read?" Satsuki asked Naruto.

Before he could pummel Satsuki into the next century for insinuating yet again that he was stupid, however, Kakashi closed his book. Loud enough to interrupt Naruto's hastily planned murder.

"How about you all introduce yourselves?"

"Care to go first?" Naruto asked.

He gave Naruto a blank look, before sighing. "Alright, guess I will."

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have some private likes and dislikes, a few hobbies of my own, and my dream . . . I don't have a clue."

He quickly turned to Sakura.

"Pinkie, how about you?"

"Eh!? Me? Well, I'm Sakura Haruno and I like Satsuki-san ( _weirdo_ ), I dislike Ino-pig, my hobbies are sewing and studying, and my dream . . ." Here, she lit up like a firework

He then pointed at Satsuki, who was still brooding.

"And you, Evil clouds?"

Satsuki didn't merit the title worth a response, earning yet another creepy stare from Sakura.

Naruto, of course, was utterly oblivious.

"I'm Satsuki Uchiha. My likes are private and my dislikes too many to name. I have no hobbies besides training, and my dream, no, my ambition, is to restore honor to my clan."

Typical Satsuki. So moody.

He then gestured to Naruto.

"Snowy, why don't you go next?"

Ignoring his barb, I said "My name is Naruto "Knuckles" Uzumaki-Namikaze. I like my nickname, training, and fighting. I dislike bullies, people with sticks up their asses, and my families love for Ramen. My hobbies are training, cartography, cooking, and treasure hunting. My dream, is to one day become the Hokage."

"I see." He replied.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder why Kakashi looked so disturbed.

"Report to training ground seven tomorrow at ten o'clock sharp for a survival exercise. Remember, failure leads to you being sent back the academy. And don't eat breakfast tomorrow, you'll just throw it up."

 _Don't eat breakfast, my ass._

 **Agreed.**

Naruto was the first to leave, and as such, missed the look Satsuki sent him.

* * *

A whole rewrite, and still no references.

* * *

Not much to say about this chapter.


	5. Stand up

Here we are.

* * *

". . . Stand up . . ."

Waking up early had its' benefits.

Any early bird could tell you that, though it was especially true for one Naruto Uzumaki.

After all, he had his morning exercises, his morning shower, and breakfast.

By the time he was done that day, it was only eight-thirty.

An hour and a half to do whatever he wanted.

He figured now would be a good time to get his weights adjusted.

* * *

Break the mold

* * *

Higurashi weapons shop was a special place.

Run by Natsumo Higurashi, it's only manned by him, and his daughter, Tenten.

Not only did they make great weapons, not only did they like Naruto, not only were they open 16 hours a day . . . they also allowed him access into the forge.

Stepping in, he couldn't help but feel someone was watching him, again. Knowing that, if nothing else, they were friendly (and the reward for greatest charge goes to . . . EMMY!~), he ignored them.

Suffice to say, he was only marginally surprised to see Tenten at the counter instead of her father. Usually he manned the front counter. Wonder what's up?

"Heya, Panda-girl." _She looks dead tired. Up late working on something?_

"Hey, Naruto." She replied.

"Did Gai work you too hard last night?"

 _Is that a blush? Why is she blushing?_

He only got more confused when he hear Kiyo snickering in the back of his head.

"O-Oh, you mean in training." She realized.

"What else would I have been talking about?" He asked.

She only blushed brighter, and shook her head.

"Suit yourself. I need to use the forge." He said.

"Again? Didn't you just adjust your weights last month?"

"What's wrong with that?" He asked.

She gave him a look like he was bonkers.

* * *

Break fate.

* * *

He was right on schedule.

That meant today was a good day, as far as he was concerned.

He did his exercises, hung out with Tenten, and properly adjusted his weights.

He loved his good days.

What he didn't love was this teacher of his.

He had already been doing his balance exercise for a while (balancing on his favorite pencil) and Kakashi still wasn't there.

His team mates had seemed curious for a bit, but quickly lost interest due to their growling stomachs. At least they were polite enough to leave him alone while he was exercising. Even if Satsuki kept giving him weird looks.

At around three hours ( _broke another record, what is with this guy's timing?_ ) Kakashi finally showed up.

He saw something extraordinary.

Satsuki and Sakura arguing.

While Naruto ignored it all.

"Teach." He greeted him

"Naruto." He responded, ignoring Naruto's abnormal exercise. ". . . What are they fighting about?"

He shrugged.

"My guess is that Satsuki finally had enough of her obsessive behavior. Instead of taking the tongue lashing and breaking down, however, Sakura decided to return fire. Not entirely sure why, but with luck, they'll both come out all the stronger for it. Kami knows this team could use a bit more cohesion."

Here Kakashi gave him a look of what seemed to be pleasant surprise.

Though he hid it immediately.

 _The hell was that?_

 **Kit, if I were you, I'd make sure to "look underneath the underneath" as you shinobi say.**

 _Thanks, Kiyo._ Naruto responded, taking her advice to heart.

Seeing he had returned his attention the currently ongoing fight, Naruto decided to ignore it in favor of watching the end of Sasuke and Sakura's little bout.

Only to see Sakura winding up a punch.

Before he could even move, Kakashi had intervened.

 _God, but he's fast!_

 _. . .Is he faster than me?_

"Enough of that." He stated simply.

Satsuki looked shocked, Naruto looked confused, and Sakura . . .

She just looked angry.

* * *

Breaking

* * *

"The goal of this exercise is two obtain one of these two bells." Here, he jingled said bells.

"You have 'till the alarm rings to grab one. Failure to do so will not only result in being sent back to the academy, but in you watching everyone else eat lunch."

At this, two stomachs roared their anger.

"What?" Naruto asked, seeing everyone glare at him.

"So . . . you ate breakfast, huh?" Asked Kakashi.

"Yup." He replied

Kakashi just sighed.

He backed off a fair distance.

Only to pull out an orange book.

 _Love-love paradise? Wonder what that's about._

He was confused when Kiyo let out an odd giggle.

 _You really do have some of the cutest giggles, Kiyo._

Not that something he didn't understand was gonna stop him from being honest.

 **. . .I hate you.**

 _What!? Why?_

Naruto was beginning to panic.

Satsuki sent him a worried glance. Sakura looked like she was about to scream at the delay.

Here, Kiyo let out a heavy sigh.

 **. . . I don't hate you.**

Naruto let out a relieved breath, causing Satsuki to give him a weird look.

"Begin!" Called Kakashi.

No sooner had he said that, then Sakura was rushing for him. Leaving Naruto and Satsuki in her dust.

Seeing Satsuki's surprised expression, Naruto quickly bumped her elbow.

Only for her to nearly fall over from the force.

Naruto caught her of course. Bridal style.

He then darted into the forest, leaving Sakura to battle Kakashi.

"W-What the hell are you doing, dobe!?" Only for Satsuki to attempt to blow their cover.

Quickly dropping her on her feet, he shushed her.

A pause, listening for any pursuers. Seemingly satisfied, he turned to her.

"So, how should we go about this?" He asked.

"What?" Was Satsuki's ever so elegant reply.

At this, he sent her a confused glance.

"Isn't this a teamwork exercise?"

"What do you mean isn't this a-"

Then she thought about it.

Put two and two together.

Came to an inevitable conclusion.

"This is a teamwork exercise." She stated, though the look on her face could only be described as 'shocked'.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

". . . The dobe figured it out before me." She whispered.

Here, a vein pulsed in Naruto's forehead.

He once again weighed the pros and cons of premeditated murder.

Only to stop when he saw the look on her face shift.

". . . I'm going to have to apologize to Sakura, aren't I?" She quietly asked.

"Actually," he butted in, "I wouldn't recommend that."

At her confused glance, he continued.

"Since she's acting out the way she is, I think it's safe to assume she was obsessed with you in one way or another. Your scolding musta caused something to snap in her brain."

Looking out towards where Sakura was supposedly fighting Kakashi, he continued.

"If you apologize, she'll just go back to square one. I say that we wait for when she finally loses to Kakashi. Then we swoop in, rescue her, and get the hell out of dodge. Hopefully, she'll have got it out of her system by then." He finished.

"Why, for the one who's supposed to be dead last, you aren't half bad at plotting."

Seeing that neither one of them were the ones who spoke, Naruto and Satsuki quickly turned in the direction of the voice.

Where they saw a figure perched on the branch above their heads.

"Kakashi-sensei." Satsuki growled.

"No. He's just a clone." He reassured her.

At this, they both sent him a surprised glance.

"What? Spend enough time around my sisters, clones become pretty obvious."

 _Can't let them know about my senses. Would raise too many questions. **(1)**_

"I see. Indeed, my cute little genin, I am but a clone. Sakura-kun is putting up a good fight."

At this little tidbit of information, Naruto quickly threw a pebble through the clone's head, popping it before it could react.

"C'mon Satsuki, we need to move. Kakashi knows where we are."

"And then what, Dobe? If Sakura is still fighting, we might just run straight into them."

For once, he ignored her favorite title for him, and smiled at her.

"Trust me, Satsuki. We won't run into the scarecrow."

Then he extended his hand.

He was surprised when she blushed.

He was even more surprised when she took his hand.

* * *

(1) Due to Naruto's connection to nature, he can basically sense life. Clones lack true life, and as such, appear as clones to his senses.


	6. My Planet

When the hell did this fic get to 400 views? Here's the update you wanted, ARSLOTHES, and thanks for the kind words.

* * *

" . . . My Planet . . ."

Kakashi only had to put his book away to beat him and Satsuki.

At least Naruto could say Kakashi hadn't used him like a mop.

Yet, despite being the last to fall, he was the one tied to the stump.

At least it was comfortable.

What wasn't comfortable was the awkward silence surrounding him.

It looked like neither Satsuki nor Sakura knew what to say to each other. It would've been cute, if he wasn't right in the middle of it.

He would've helped them out, too, if Kakashi didn't give him a rather _pointed_ look from his hiding spot every time he opened his mouth to say something.

Seriously, it was getting unbearable.

Satsuki, mistaking his discomfort for hunger, looked around quickly (missing Kakashi), and proceeded to attempt to spoon feed him.

Despite the fact that Kakashi said they all failed if they did.

Suffice to say, he did his best impression of a picky baby.

Sakura wasn't having any of that, however.

Grabbing his face, turning him towards Satsuki, and opening his mouth, Satsuki took quick advantage.

For two girls who were trying very hard to get over an awkward silence just a while ago, they worked together like old friends.

Scary.

"Ara, ara, what part of my instruction weren't clear, I wonder?"

And there's the sensei now.

"You expect us to let him starve? He's our teammate, even if he is a goofball."

"Hey!"

"Sakura has a point."

"Oh?" Kakashi replied.

Suffice to say, his killer intent was nothing to scoff at.

Yet despite that, his teammates stood firm.

When the hell did he make such awesome friends?

"How the hell did I make such awesome friends?"

 _Woops, didn't mean to say that out loud._

He could hear Kiyo once again snickering in the back of his mind.

 _You know, if you weren't so cute, you'd be kinda creepy, Kiyo._

She shut up remarkably fast. Was it something he said?

Meanwhile, both of his teammates were blushing at his words.

"W-Well, you did help me that one time when we were little . . ." Sakura whispered.

"What, when I gave you plant advice? You could have found that in just about any book about plant care." I replied.

Satsuki managed to keep it together a bit better.

"You . . . were always willing to lend a hand, even though you thought it interfered with your training. Even if you are a Dobe, you're honest. And that meant a lot."

"When the hell did I walk into a funeral?" Naruto asked dryly.

Upon seeing the shocked look on both of their faces, he continued.

"I mean, really, focus on the present. We need to work together as team, can't do that very well if we let our pasts guide our perceptions, ya know?"

"Naruto," asked Kakashi, "has anyone ever told you you're kind of a scary kid?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

At this, he gave his patented eye smile.

"Congratulations. You pass."

* * *

Despite all that talk about owing him and whatnot, they left him tied to the log.

Oh well.

At least the weather was pleasant.

"Onii-san."

"Hiya, Menna. What's up?"

She had changed a surprisingly small amount in six years.

She was slim, but he could the see the muscle, hidden under her clothes. She was only a few inches shorter than him now.

Man, but time flies.

"I just . . . wanted to check in. Mom was worried when you started going after Konoha's gangs."

"What for? I was perfectly fine."

"She thought the kyuubi was influencing your thoughts."

He scoffed.

"Who, Kiyo? She might act big and mighty, but she wouldn't harm a fly. She would rather just go chill in the mountains somewhere."

"Wait, she?"

"Yes, she."

". . . At any rate, you do realize that she is capable of destroying mountains with a swing of her tails, correct?"

"Semantics. I really don't care."

"Mom says-"

"Mom chained Kiyo up to a big ball in her stomach, told her how it was gonna be, and never talked to her again. I would dare say Mom doesn't have a fucking clue what Kiyo is like."

 _You alright, Kiyo?_

 **. . . Thanks, Naruto.**

 _Hmm? What for?_

 **For caring.**

 _For such a cute person, you really are a weirdo._

He could feel her blushing.

"You're talking to her right now, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Kami, help my foolish big brother."

"What the hell are you praying for!?"

Afterwards, she took him back home.

After some heartfelt hugs from his family, and an explanation on his part, they _apologized_.

Man, but people are weird.

Mom may have flipped out when I told her I had moved out permanently, though.

* * *

Last time I'm gonna say break, so say goodbye.

* * *

It had been a boring couple of weeks.

Rather anticlimatic, if you ask him. Not that he minded.

Less drama meant more training. More training meant more winning.

And he loved winning.

He did not, however, love D-rank missions.

Except for the Tora ones, while they lasted. Tora grave some great cuddles, but he eventually took pity on him, and gave the owner some advice on how to hold the cat.

Tora never ran away again.

Which meant he was back to painting fences.

He was really beginning to fucking _hate_ the smell of paint.

Kakashi took note.

"You alright there, Naruto?"

"Oh, I'm _fabulous_ , Kakashi. Just thinking of all the ways I'm going to absolutely _grill_ the Hokage next time I see him."

Judging by the concerned look he gave him, he had said something weird.

"What?" He asked.

". . . Nothing." Kakashi replied.

* * *

One Konoha style Hokage grill later, they had been summoned to the Hokage's office.

"What do you require of us, Hokage-sama?"

"I had a recent . . . discussion with someone earlier, and I realized something important. So, today, I am assigning your team their first C-rank."

"That's . . . sudden."

"So was the nature of the discussion. Are your students ready?"

Looking back, Kakashi saw that both Sakura and Satsuki look determined, while Naruto looked like he had just been told the Elemental Nations had 5 new holidays, and they were all about him.

". . . It would seem so, sir."

"I see. Cat, would you mind bringing in the client?"

As the ANBU brought in the client, Naruto couldn't help but notice a few things.

The smell of blood coming from Cat (did she forget to wash her sword? **_[1]_** ), the smell of saké that seemed to permeate their clients very being, and most of all . . .

He couldn't help but notice the fear he gave off.

"So I'm being escorted by a bunch of brats, am I?"

* * *

(1) A reference to another fic. Basically, he sensed that she was on her period before even _she_ knew.

* * *

There's a poll up on my profile, I would appreciate it if you went and voted. Has to do with a fic.


	7. Shall not surrender

I'm surprised nobody's commented on the naming scheme yet. _**This chapter is where things start to get gross. You have been warned.**_

* * *

". . . Shall not surrender . . ."

Naruto was really beginning to hate waiting for his sensei.

It didn't help that his teammates kept giving him weird looks. Did he have something on his face?

Why were they blushing? Were they gossiping behind his back?

"Is the scarecrow always this late?"

And, of course, his client was as surly as ever.

"Yep. I don't know how he manages it, but he does. He's late 100% of the time, even if it's only by a few seconds." Naruto replied.

Seeing he was about to open his mouth to talk again, Naruto quickly intervened.

Kakashi had managed to gain his respect through his strength, he wasn't about to let someone doubt his abilities.

"Before you go insulting my sensei, let me tell you something interesting. He beat me with ease. That may not seem like much, considering my age, but I'm the one responsible for putting all 14 of Konoha's gangs out of business. That's about 232 criminals I put in the hospital. They all have nightmares about what I did to them. Sensei took me down in about two minutes."

Seeing the look of shock on his face, he continued.

"Satsuki here managed to hold her own for about a minute against our sensei, and Sakura lasted about a minute and half, even if she was angry beyond all reason. With all of us guarding you, I don't think you have the right to complain. You're perfectly safe."

At this reassurance, some of the fear he was emanating went away, but not all of it.

Naruto may not know much about his own ability to sense the emotions of the creatures around him, but he did know that his senses didn't lie.

Either some really strong people are after his client, or the client is worried for someone besides himself.

Provided it didn't complicate the mission, he supposed it didn't matter.

Thing was, with fear like that, in a world like this, it probably would.

"Alright kid, I'll take your word for it."

Ignoring the looks of shock both he and Tazuna were receiving, he replied.

"Thank you."

And so, they went back to waiting, with the only sounds being the quiet chattering of Satsuki and Sakura. _When did they get so chummy?_

They didn't have to wait too much longer.

"Sorry I was late, everyone, but I encountered a little old lady who needed some help with her groceries."

For one reason or another, Sakura refrained from screaming at him, even though he had used that excuse before.. Naruto was thankful. With the boost he had gotten from Emmy and the training he had been doing, his ears were way too sensitive for that now.

Seeing everyone was ready, Kakashi decided it was time to begin.

"Well, everyone, shall we hit the road?"

* * *

The outer forests of Konoha rubbed pleasantly against Naruto's senses.

He could sense the peacefulness of the forest, smell the scent of myriad animals dwelling within it reaches, feel a gentle breeze, and hear the singing of the birds.

It was times like these that Naruto was glad he hadn't been born in Suna. Damn place must be boring as hell without a palpable connection to nature.

Noticing his pleasant mood, Kakashi decided to comment.

"You seem pretty upbeat, Naruto. Enjoying your first trip outside the village?"

Naruto shook his head.

"No. I'm enjoying the fact that Konoha is set up where it is. I can really connect to nature out here. It's relaxing."

The only sign of Kakashi's surprise was the slight widening of his eye.

"Didn't have you pegged as a nature type."

Naruto chuckled.

"Neither did my family, and they've known me since birth. They only figured it out when I attempted fratricide when they interrupted me in the middle of my meditation in Training ground 44."

He _hated_ when people interrupted his meditation. Even Kiyo, and she was his best friend!

 **Since when were we best friends?**

 _We're not best friends?!_

Naruto began to panic.

 **W-We are, we are!**

Naruto quickly calmed down.

Kiyo let out a sigh of relief. Living inside the mindscape of a panicking person is not pleasant. Especially when said mindscape was an ancient ruin.

Ignoring the looks he was receiving from the people around him for his short lived panic attack, he went back to enjoying the nature surrounding him.

Man, but was he glad Emmy was his charge. His life had improved leaps and bounds since she entered it.

He'd have to get her a gift soon. Maybe he could polish her?

That would be lovely, Naruto.

Then that's what he'd do.

* * *

It was about three days into their trip, half way to Wave, when it happened.

The forest went quiet.

Too quiet.

As if something had scared all the animals away.

Naruto immediately went on edge.

Thanks to that, he spotted a puddle.

It was strange enough on its' own. It hadn't rained in days, and water didn't stick around much longer than a week around here.

What was even stranger was that he sensed life coming from within it. _A jutsu?_

He went to raise his hand to make a fist (military sign for stop)- and was halted by Kakashi.

When he gave him a questioning glance, he simply shook his head.

Did his sensei already have a plan in place? He would have to follow his lead, then.

He soon wished he hadn't.

When two ninja emerged from the puddle, he wasn't surprised.

He _was_ surprised when he saw Kakashi get sliced into bits by their chain.

He didn't let that stop him from immediately leaping into action.

Faster than they could react, he had already broken the left one's leg by kicking it in. Reaching up, he slung his arm around his opponents neck, and _twisted_.

His neck broke rather loudly.

One down.

Casting a glance to his second target, he immediately began planning.

 _Wide stance, still posture, no guard. Must still be shocked by his partner's demise._

Looking to his opponents head, he saw his headband had a slash through the village symbol.

 _A missing mist-nin. Troubling. Gonna need to move before he recovers, if his village's nickname is anything to go by._

Before he could move, however, Kakashi emerged from behind the nin, and quickly subdued him with ninja wire.

He then proceeded to tie him to a nearby tree.

Looking to Naruto, he asked an unexpected question.

"Mind interrogating this ninja while I store the other one?"

He was nonetheless grateful.

"Not at all." He then moved to the missing-nin, all the while ignoring the incredulous looks from the rest of the party.

"You may have have killed my brother, kid, but there is no way I'm gonna break from some novice's torture."

Giving him a blank stare, Naruto began to explain his methods. The ones he learned from stomping out Konoha's gangs.

"There are 32 major pressure points in the human body. Just about every single one is painful, if not deadly. My favorites are the tailbone and knee caps. Which one would you like me to start with?"

Judging by the look of surprise on his prisoners face, he wasn't expecting a kid to have such knowledge on the human anatomy.

"So you have a little bodily knowledge. Doesn't change the fact that you can only use some of it without killing me."

He still saw through his bluff though.

"True enough, I suppose."

Naruto then grabbed his prisoners face, and used one of his hands to hold one of his eyes open.

It was times like these Naruto was glad he had developed a good poker face.

"The strongest material I've ever punched through is chakra-reinforced steel. I wonder how your eye will hold up if I just use my fingers? Will it turn into pulp, or will I be able to extract it without trouble?"

He then forced his prisoner to watch as he slowly moved his fingers towards his right eye.

His prisoner only cracked when he finally began digging his way into the flesh surrounding his eye.

"A-Alright I-I'll tell you what I know! Just stop!"

Stop, Naruto did. Though he did not remove his fingers. The prisoners' eyes quickly started watering.

"Oh? Anything you can tell me that might be of greater value than what I can learn from attempting to remove your eye?"

"W-We were hired by Gato! H-He hired us and Z-Zabuza to kill the old man! S-Something about getting in his way. T-That's all I know."

 **Take me, Naruto! _(1)_**

 _Where?_

 **Heaven!**

 _Yeah, sorry Kiyo, but that's gonna be a while. Got some stuff to do._

Ignoring Kiyo's pout, Naruto removed his hands.

Only to quickly put them back on his prisoners shoulders.

"Thank you. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for your brother."

Judging by the look of shock he got, the prisoners wasn't expecting that.

Apparently he had a talent for surprising people. Reminded him of the days when he was known as the most unpredictable wannabe ninja, instead of just Knuckles.

Man, were those some embarrassing days.

He then returned to Kakashi's side.

"Should we call for someone to come take him away, or should we just leave him here?"

Kakashi only gave him a brief glance.

"Does one of your "favorite" pressure points result in long term unconsciousness?"

Naruto frowned.

"Aye, though it would probably be more effective if I just foraged for the right plants to make a KO mixture. Why?" It was times like these he was glad for Emmy's tutoring.

Kakashi looked at the scroll in his hand, the one that contained the body of the other brother.

"Can't trust him to not escape if we just leave him here, and that means that under ordinary circumstances we'd just kill him. It's probably why he relented so quickly."

It clicked within Naruto's brain. _Figures he'd be too dead to care about the consequences of ratting out, eh?_

"I see. I can knock him out for few days, since we're on the main road, provided the team you call for gets here in that time, it should all work out."

Kakashi gave him a surprised glance.

"Oh? Then I'll send for them after you finish. Good work, by the way."

Smiling at the compliment, he got to work.

After Naruto gathered the necessary plants, and fed them to the remaining brother (against his will), Kakashi summoned his dogs to act as messengers.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, how about we get somethings sorted out."

Satsuki wasted no time.

"Why are you acting like nothing happened, Naruto? How? You just killed someone!"

Seeing Sakura and Tazuna also send him questioning glances, he looked at the direction the ninja dogs had run off, carrying the scroll that contained the dead brother, and contemplated how he felt about killing him.

He felt _Victorious._

Turning back to his teammates, he explained.

"You know I failed the original graduation test, correct?"

When they nodded, he continued.

"I was approached by Mizuki, and he offered me a fake make-up test, and I went along with it, figuring that outing a traitor to the leaf might merit me a promotion."

His eyes darkened.

"What I didn't expect was for Iruka to find me before Mizuki. Iruka spotted Mizuka before I did, and ended up taking a fuma shuriken meant for me. In the end, after Iruka got hurt, I killed Mizuki. The Hokage gave me a field promotion because of it."

Turning back to his teammates, he continued.

"You learn one of two things when you kill someone. Not whether or not your cruel or evil or whatever. Just whether or not you can still sleep at night. Me? I still sleep like a baby _**(2)**_."

* * *

(1) Kiyo may be an emotional pushover, but she's a _very_ sadistic one.

(2) A line taken from Jackie Estacado, from The Darkness series of video games.

* * *

And here we see a bit more of Naruto's dark side. He's connected to nature, and that makes him ever more primal.

There's a poll up on my profile at the moment that has to do with another non-crossover Naruto fic. If you like that sort of thing, go ahead and vote.


	8. Rougher than the rest of 'em

". . . Rougher than the rest of 'em . . ."

Naruto had always been comfortable in silence.

Maybe it was the fact the he rarely got any silence, due to Emmy and Kiyo.

Maybe it was the nature surrounding him.

Maybe it was the fact that he knew it wouldn't last.

As Sakura was about to demonstrate.

"So, um, Tazuna-san, can you tell us more about what's going on in wave?"

Naruto gave Tazuna a glance out of the corner of his eye. Tazuna had spilled the true nature of their mission after an impromptu interrogation from Kakashi, but he had left out a fair amount.

"Suppose it's the least I can do, after lyin' to ya and all. Well, where to start . . ."

After a moment of thought, he began.

"Gato's thugs have taken over the town. It's a sadly common sight to see them abusin' the villagers, and all the courage people can muster to oppose them is being put inta' the construction of the bridge. With Gato controllin' the docks the way he does, the bridge is a lot of people's last hopes, and Gato knows it."

Here, Naruto put a hand to his chin in thought.

"Wouldn't it be more profitable in the long run just to pull the wool over the eyes of the people? People are the ones who generate the resources he making his money from, after all."

Here, Tazuna let out a dry chuckle.

"Unfortunately for us, Gato is quite stupid. He's gained the wealth he has by hopping from one location to another, draining their resources along the way. He has no eye for the future. Eventually, his company will collapse, one way or another. It's just that it'll be too late for us."

Naruto gave an understanding nod.

Kakashi gave Naruto a surprised glance.

"Any particular reason you're so knowledgeable on economics, Naruto?"

Here, he gave Kakashi an annoyed look.

"I'm a treasure hunter, or did you forget? I need knowledge of economics to know how to best sell whatever I find."

Sakura gave him a confused look.

"You don't keep any of it."

Naruto shook his head.

"Not unless it's magical or chakra infused."

Here, Satsuki gave him an incredulous look.

"Magic doesn't exist, dobe."

Once again reminding himself of all the reasons why he _couldn't_ murder Satsuki, he explained.

"Magic is just another way of saying ancient chakra, Satsuki. Magical items were how people harnessed the chakra from their surroundings before The Sage of Six Paths showed up and gave away the ability to use chakra for free."

Seeing the confused glances he was getting from the rest of his party, he continued.

"Magical items, such as staves carved from the roots of the Shinju tree, could be used to harness the elements. Y'know, cast fireballs and whatnot. They're basically useless to most shinobi, since most shinbo can do that and so much more just by ourselves, but give one to the wrong civilian, and you could have a lot of trouble on your hands. After all, all they require to use is a fair amount of concentration and some of the surrounding environments chakra. It's why I keep them instead of selling 'em. As for chakra infused items, some of them are useful to me, others might just kill civilians who attempt to use them due to the chakra drain."

Kakashi gave an understanding nod.

"I don't know about magic, but I do know about the dangers of chakra-infused items in the hands of civilians, or even ninja. Keep doing what you do, Naruto."

Naruto, giving a light smile for the praise, replied.

"Sure thing, sensei."

Tazuna, on the other hand, turned pale.

Seeing this, Sakura decided to comment.

"Tazuna-san? Are you all right?"

Ignoring Sakura's question, he turned to Naruto.

"Oi, Naruto. Does one of these magical items you're speaking of look like a finely-cut gem of some sort?"

Seeing the grimace that spread across Naruto's face surprised most of them.

"Where did you see it?"

Tazuna, looking even more worried, replied.

"In the hands of Gato."

Naruto's next questions surprised them all.

"What color was it, and how many did he have?"

Tazuna, despite his confusion, complied.

"Um, he only had one, and it was green. Why?"

Here, Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

"What you just described to me is what is known as a Fragment of Chaos. There are seven of them, one for each sin. Green is greed, fitting for one like Gato. Without all seven, they're useless to most. Luckily for us, they tend to subtly nudge their owners into keeping them, so we don't have to worry about Gato selling his."

Satsuki asked the obvious question.

"Why are they only useful when you gather all seven?"

Naruto raised two fingers.

"There are two things you can do with all seven. One, you can absorb their energy, effectively becoming the embodiment of Chaos itself. Two, you can have them grant one of your wishes, after which, they'll spread themselves across the globe, becoming inert for however long it takes them to refill their energy tanks."

At the incredulous glances he received, he grinned.

"You don't have to believe that part of it if you're willing to believe they're dangerous in the wrong hands. If we get Gato's, the crisis will be averted, and I can go back to collecting them at a leisurely pace."

Satsuki gave him an unbelieving stare.

"If you're collecting them, what are you gonna use them for?"

Naruto just gave her a confused glance.

"Who said I was gonna use them? I was just gonna lock them up, never to be seen again."

And the best part was . . .

They all knew he was speaking the truth.

* * *

"This is as far as I can take you, Tazuna-san."

"That's fine. Thanks for the ride."

At that, they all took their first steps off the boat, and into Wave.

Naruto instantly felt the difference.

The very nature of the surrounding land felt different. A mix of Water and Fire.

Fitting, he supposed.

Then he realized what this meant.

 _I'll never have to get lost again._

* * *

Naruto was the first to notice the presence.

He raised his hand, and put it into a fist.

The party immediately stopped.

 _It stopped moving? Why does this presence feel so . . ._ dark _?_

Naruto immediately threw a shuriken towards where he had felt the presence stop.

Only for the presence to shift.

All everyone else heard was a squeak.

Checking where he threw the kunai, he saw a white-haired rabbit.

 _White?_

"It's just a rabbit, dobe. Care not to stop us for a false alarm next time?"

Then he felt the presence move.

"Down!" He screamed, pulling Satsuki and Sakura to the ground, with Kakashi doing the same for their client.

And not a moment too soon.

Looking up, they saw a zanbato. One which both Naruto and Kakashi recognized.

"Well if isn't Sharingan Kakashi. That genin of yours sure is observant."

Ignoring Satsuki's shocked glance, he pulled up his headband, revealing the eye which he was famed for.

"Momochi Zabuza. What a pleasant surprise. Sakura, Satsuki, Naruto, guard the client."

Zabuza let out a chuckle.

"Not gonna let him go without a fight, are ya? Oh well, just makes this all the more fun for me."

He quickly leapt back, disappearing into his conjured mist.

"Eight points. Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Which one will I get first, I wonder?"

Satsuki hadn't even realized that she was about to slit her own throat when Naruto stopped her.

Turning to look at him, she saw something surprising.

He was _smiling._

 _This is going to be a fun fight. Now, where to start?_

Sensing Zabuza's presence to his right, he bounded towards him at speeds even Kakashi would be pressed to match.

Something Zabuza hadn't been prepared for, judging by the look of shock on his face.

"I choose lungs." Naruto stated.

Zabuza quickly found his left lung nearly pulverized, from one punch.

Suffice to say, he quickly backed off.

"Now you see why I had him guard Tazuna. He's scary when he gets into it." Kakashi stated, watching it all with his sharingan.

Zabuza looked up, and saw the slight smile on Naruto's face, as well as the cunning gleam in his eyes.

It was the look of a man confident in his abilities, not the look of a genin.

Zabuza let out a chuckle, ignoring the way his damaged lung protested.

"Indeed. It looks like it's time for me to step it up a notch." He then quickly began doing hand seals, relying on the mist to shield him from a second strike.

He hadn't finished before Naruto's fist plowed into his face, sending him straight into the lake.

 _Wait a minute, did he continue doing hand seals in the air?_

Indeed he did, judging by how many water clones were surging out of the water.

Naruto quickly retreated to the sides of his companions.

"H-How the hell did you do that?"

Naruto just gave her a small smile.

"Training. You're both welcome to join me sometime, if you'd like." He addressed them, only paying slight attention to Kakashi's battle with the clones.

Both of their faces paled.

Naruto just gave them a worried glance.

"Are you guys alright? You don't look so good."

Sakura quickly shot down that notion.

"N-No, we're fine. Thank you for the offer, Naruto."

Giving them a blank stare, he shrugged.

"If you say so."

Looking back towards where the fight was taking place, he saw Kakashi was quickly taking the lead. Thanks to his injured lung, and almost broken jaw, Zabuza was having a hard time fighting against Kakashi, who could copy all of his non-physically draining ninjutsu. He was running out of options.

Just when it seemed that Kakashi was about to take the victory, however, two needles flew into Zabuza's neck.

A hunter-nin quickly appeared by Zabuza's side.

"Thank you, Shinobi-san." The hunter-nin greeted.

"Hunter-san." Kakashi returned.

As per the agreement between villages, Kakashi went and checked the pulse of Zabuza. Sensing nothing, he gave the hunter-nin a nod.

The hunter-nin quickly took her leave.

Naruto quickly addressed Kakashi.

"You realize he isn't dead, right?"

Kakashi gave a nod.

"I'm running on fumes, and while you _might_ be able to take him in a battle, you couldn't do it while protecting Tazuna-san and your allies as well. Not to mention his ally."

Naruto gave a nod.

"Understood. Let's get you to Tazuna's house so you can rest."

"That . . . would be much appreciated."

Lending Kakashi a shoulder, Naruto followed behind Satsuki and Sakura, who were suspiciously silent.

Naruto had a feeling he knew why.

* * *

Walking into the village proper, the first thing Naruto noticed was the despair.

It felt like he had just walked into a wall of smoke.

He had to force himself to keep breathing.

The second thing he noticed was the villagers.

More specifically, the way their eyes lit up with hope when they saw their headbands.

All in all, the village was basically a shantytown.

 _Pitiful. Gato will answer for this. But first, we need to let Kakashi rest. After that, well, we'll see._

"There's my house now."

Looking towards it, Naruto discovered it was a simple place. Two floors, windows, light paint, and a studiously maintained door. Sign of the carpenter who called this house home.

Stepping in, the first thing Naruto sensed was the smell of food. Somebody was cooking, and cooking well, judging by the smell. _Curry?_

"Tsunami, I'm home!"

Naruto heard the patter of footsteps from the kitchen, and then saw what was undeniably a beautiful woman come out.

 _Tsunami, eh? Suits her._

She ignored them in order to hug Tazuna.

Then promptly smacked up upside the head.

"Where do you get off, leaving like that, Tou-san? If it weren't for these ninja, you would have died!"

Tazuna jsut rubbed his head sheepishly.

Naruto decided to interrupt.

"Excuse me, Tsunami, would you mind escorting us to our rooms? My sensei needs rest." Naruto said, shrugging the shoulder which held Kakashi, who, for his part, just chuckled sheepishly.

At first she seemed shocked by his callous disregard for honorifics, but she quickly complied when she saw how battered his sensei was.

"Ah yes, follow me."

As she led them to their rooms, he ignored the glare he got in passing through a crack in one of the doors.

He had better things to worry about.

* * *

No references.

* * *

If someone wouldn't mind sending me a crash course on medical herbs, it would be much appreciated.


	9. Notice

Hello everyone, it's been a while.

Basically, this fic is being retired.

In other words, I'm going to be writing a new version of this fic. This isn't anything new, I rewrite things all the time.

The difference here is that I decided to rewrite this fic from scratch, instead of going through and just rewriting/editing it like I normally do.

This version of the fic is going to remain as a legacy version. I couldn't bring myself to just throw it in the trash all together, so it gets this instead.

If you want to adopt this version of the fic, there are two things I want you to do. One, don't copy and paste what I wrote, write it in your own words. Two, let me know about it after you put the first chapter up.

That's all there is to say about this fic in particular. If you read any of my other stories, I'm going to be going through and editing those as well, so be on the lookout for that.


End file.
